Woolies under fire over pulp products

By Ari Sharp

UNION activists are hoping to woo Woolworths shareholders in the next step of their campaign to pressure the retailer into ending its relationship with one of Asia's largest pulp and paper makers.

The Wake Up Woolworths campaign has been pushing the company to sever its relationship with Asia Pulp & Paper over claims of deforestation of Indonesian rainforests. APP supplies Woolworths' Select Brand tissue products.

The lobby group is marking today's World Environment Day by writing to shareholders, encouraging them to pressure the company over the sourcing arrangement.

Campaign spokesman Tim Woods said Asia Pulp & Paper had been accused for many years of widespread deforestation in Indonesia and for the emission of millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases.

A report last year by Indonesia's Centre for International Forestry Research found that APP relied on natural forests in Sumatra for 60%-70% of its wood supply.

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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has previously scrutinised Woolworths over a green claim on its Select Brand tissue products, which came from information supplied to the company.

But earlier this year, the ACCC called off its investigation, saying it was too difficult to determine fault. Woolworths has removed the claim from its packaging.

The Wake Up Woolworths campaign is largely funded by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, which represents workers at Australian rivals to the Asian company.

A Woolworths spokeswoman said the company was working on changes to paper sourcing to meet environmental concerns.

The Wake Up Woolworths campaign is also again targeting this year's Woolworths annual meeting over the controversial APP relationship. Full-page newspaper advertisements were published as part of the union campaign before last November's annual meeting.

Woolworths is also under scrutiny on another front, with the ACCC raising several issues for comment over the chain's attempted takeover of an independent grocery store near Canberra.

The ACCC's merger review process over the Karabar Supabarn comes at a delicate time for the grocery sector, with fears that a high concentration of ownership of supermarkets may be pushing up prices for consumers.